Governor Brown just signed into law a state requirement that any single stall bathroom is a gender-neutral bathroom.
It makes it compulsory for businesses and governments to designate any bathroom with a single stall as gender-neutral, as well as posting a sign on each to display that it is gender-neutral.
The changes are required by 1 March 2017.
Democratic Assemblyman Phil Ting, of San Francisco, brought forward the bill.
He described it as one of the most comprehensive bathroom access laws in the US, and said it will “chart a new course of equality for the nation.” “This simple concept is oddly cutting-edge when compared with the discrimination being enacted in other states,” Ting said this week.
Bill AB1732
This is a good idea. I have often wondered why single stall bathrooms are gender specific. Only one person at a time can use the bathroom. So why could it not be used by either sex?
Many businesses have two single stall bathrooms, one for each gender. I have seen some of these businesses close one of the bathrooms and keep just one as gender neutral. It saves the business money and businesses with slow traffic can get away with just one single stall bathroom.
My observations up in NY and NJ is that many places that have two single person restrooms simply designate them as a restroom. Sometimes they use the two symbols, sometimes not but it seems to be naturally evolving in large measure without the force of government imposing rules on businesses. I think it is an example of the market place keeping up with societal changes.
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